CARCHEX

Carchex was really helpful. I stayed on the phone half an hour with them, getting over everything, but it was good. At the beginning, I was getting a two-year warranty and it was 24 payments, but the guy I talked to made a mistake. A manager called me back and said, "Oh, so we cannot divide the 24 months of warranty to 36. It's going to be 24. But I'm gonna make you a good deal." He offered me a third year so I can divide it in 36 payments. Instead of 3,600, it was 4,000 and I ended up taking the 4,000 one that he offered me. It was a lot more than I was getting and it wasn't that much money.

The warranty the Chevrolet dealership would have offered me would have been 40,000 miles, three years. Carchex gave me 50,000 miles, three years. I got much more in miles with Carchex, and everything's been great as far as the deal and the payment. I already paid the first month. Also, when I bought my warranty, they offered to send me a $50 gift card in the mail if I told a friend and he bought a warranty for his car.

I called Carchex and told them what the problem was and the guy explained what the problem was and exactly the detail what they wanted the mechanic to do. He said what the mechanic was doing and what they wanna pay him for it. I was gonna have to pay the $100 on it but everything else, they were gonna pay to him. Carchex explained the detail to the mechanic that works with my car and paid him very fast also. He said that he sent them a bill in the morning and they sent a check in the afternoon. One of the things that I was impressed with was that when I called Carchex up, they asked me the right questions, and I told them what I think. They figured out how much it was going to be and the first thing they did was tell me if they could cover it or not.

What the website really is saying is get a phone call right now. Carchex needs to be clear about that in their marketing. The first time I did it, they called me and I told them I wasn't interested. Three weeks went by and I thought, “Man, my warranty’s expiring so I’m gonna have to suck it up.” Apart from that, the reps were great and the benefits of the plan are very similar with SilverRock. However, SilverRock was 50% less expensive and I had only a $50 deductible. I saved a lot more money with it, but sadly, it expired.

Also, with the initial stuff I got online from Carchex, I had a 30-day and 500-mile waiting period from the day that I got the warranty. They sent me the book in the mail and it said 30 days and 1,000 miles. They tried to change it up on me, and it's a small difference normally, but during COVID, that's a big difference. I had to call them and they fixed it, which is why I stayed with them. I didn’t like that very much though, because the average consumer is not going to read that big book and realize that it said something different than what they were told and what their initial email said.

Having a protection plan is very valuable. I just had to have my entire front axle replaced, for the CV. The way that the Subarus do it, when you have a bad CV boot in the front, it's connected in with the axle. They replaced the whole thing. My extended warranty that I had covered it, so all I had to do was pay $100. It was going to be almost $900 to have it done. When things are that expensive, you need a warranty to make sure you're going to be covered. I'm 75 years old and I don't want to have to come up with 1,000 or 2,000, or if the transmission would go, up to $5,000.

I did some research before I chose Carchex. It's not the most expensive or the top of the line. It's number three of the top five. I checked out the other two, and they were much too high for the same product, so I decided to go with Carchex. I had a very good experience with them and although I haven't had to use it yet, I'm very happy with the program that I got.

She connected me to another rep and he did a great job hearing my dilemma and why I didn't buy a warranty from the dealer. He talked through things and told me what he had. I could have been more curious but I wasn't because he satisfied what it was that I wanted to know. I mentioned to him my story with Endurance and about how I'm a disabled veteran. He said they had stuff for veterans and I got an $800 discount for being one, which was awesome. The thing I liked about Endurance was it’s an entirely self-enclosed organization where Carchex is outsourcing and they are the handler. But I didn't see the cost saving to Endurance’s approach. It's about on par. Theirs was 4,700 and Carchex was 4,800. Cheaper for me would be by 10%.

The only thing is I would like more details available online so folks who are in my position don't have to sit on the phone and listen when that's not always advantageous. Carchex could also provide a link to the different plans. Consumers end up getting forced into a specific plan that's most advantageous to the vendor and not to the consumers. Companies come with a plan that they think would fit a consumer. But I want something that reasonably ties to what I have. Here's my pay and here's what my budget is. On the Carchex side, that wasn't bad. But it would be nice to self-service the whole thing like I do an insurance policy with USAA. I log into the system and it gives me all my options there. I'm fully aware of everything. At the end of it, you do this closure where you agree to these things and you put your signature.